So, what exactly is zero-tolerance for OVA?
Queensland Teachers' Journal, Vol 130 No 6, 5 September 2025, page no 15.
We frequently hear the phrase “we have a zero-tolerance for occupational violence and aggression,” yet that isn’t the reality for teachers, school leaders, or students.
Both the department and the Minister of Education say they have a zero-tolerance stance on occupational violence and aggression (OVA). However, these words don’t align with the actions of either. Until the necessary support, resourcing, and clear and consistent consequences are in place, there is no zero-tolerance towards OVA in schools.
Members contact the QTU every day, telling us that they have been hit, scratched, spat-on, harassed, and abused by students and parents, and the list goes on. This is just not acceptable, and it is certainly not part of a teacher's or a school leaders’ job.
The QTU is tirelessly working with individual members and schools to address OVA, yet when we go to the employer and ask for these issues to be addressed, it has been suggested to us that there is a “capability or commitment” issue. The department knows that every day, employees across the state are being injured physically and/or psychologically. It needs to stop making empty statements and put action behind these words. The “say-do" gap will not be tolerated, and neither will victim-blaming.
If our members raise issues and make reports, they should be taken seriously, and consistently and appropriately addressed. QTU members want post-incident support and a chance to debrief, decompress, and report, not an expectation that “service delivery” will be maintained “as normal”. Principals are often unable to resolve these issues and provide the support needed, because they just don’t have the necessary staff and resourcing.
Instead of using legislation, policy, and procedures to protect their employees, the department is in fact using them against them. Educators need safe systems of work, not bureaucratic hurdles or a guilt trip. Until there is a culture in the department that truly prioritises the health and safety of employees, nothing will change.
At our State Conference in July, the Premier admitted that the incresing level of violence and aggression in schools required cultural change in the department. This has to begin at the highest levels. Appropriate support, consistent consequences, and resourcing must be provided to ensure the Department of Education can deliver a culture that no longer enables the normalising of OVA within education settings.
The QTU rejects any and all rhetoric that suggests that dealing with OVA perpetrated by students or parents/carers is part of the teaching profession. We insist that a service obligation and outlined mutual obligations are publicised and implemented.
The QTU also strongly disagrees with any implication that a student’s intent must be established before OVA is recognised or addressed. The impact on the employee is the primary concern, and the absence of intent does not diminish the seriousness of the incident.
The Department of Education has not only a legal but also an ethical obligation to provide a safe work environment, and therefore it must commit to actioning and enforcing its zero-tolerance stance towards OVA.
The Queensland Government needs to raise public awareness of specific criminal offence provisions in relation to violence against staff in schools, and must provide added legal protection for frontline education staff through the “public officer” provisions. The QTU calls on the Queensland Government to amend the definition of a public officer under section 340 of the Criminal Code Act 1899 to specifically include principals, teachers, and other frontline staff working in state schools and TAFE colleges.
The QTU will continue to work relentlessly to improve the health, safety, welfare, and wellbeing of our members, and we will continue to advise and support members’ right to take appropriate action on workplace health and safety issues.
If you have experienced OVA and are not receiving the necessary and appropriate support from the department, contact the QTU.